Find Your Six Productive Things To Do Every Day

Six Most Productive Things To Do Every Day

Six Things Most Productive People Do Every Day

I admit I stole this title. But I didn’t read the article. I didn’t want to be tainted by “the most productive people”.

James Altucher

So I decided to write down what six things I do every day that help me with productivity. I think I’m somewhat productive. I help run a few businesses. I’ve written a book or two a year for the past 11 years. I speak a lot. I write articles. I’ve also had more than enough time to ruin a marriage, find a new marriage, lose a house, and…other stuff.

But I also feel lazy a lot. Like, sometimes I’m tired so I take a nap in the middle of the day. Or sometimes I get writer’s block. A lot of people say “writer’s block” is a myth but I get it. Then I feel very unproductive.

About six years ago I would say I was 100% unproductive. Everything I did would cost me in either well-being or money. People say “money isn’t everything” and they are right. But money helps you pay bills. I’m divorced with two kids so I have bills to pay.

So what is “productive”? Things that either increase my well-being: my feeling of growth or competence in a field I love (for instance, writing), my relationships with others, and my sense of freedom (which could (but not always) involve money).

Freedom can also come from needing less, so then you need less money.

Important to note that these three items of well-being are not goals. I will never be “competent”. A day is productive if I GROW in competence. If I grow in my relationships. If I grow in my feeling of “choosing myself” – my freedom to make my own decisions in life instead of catering to the decisions and tastes of others.

My six things (please help me and add to my list):

READING

Reading is maybe the most productive thing you can ever do. Here’s what happens: when you die at the age of 100, you’ve just lived one 100 year life. When I read a book in a few days time, I just absorbed an entire life, curated, of someone I admire or respect.

It’s like every book I read is a mentor. How many mentors do I have? 1000s. Thank god I have a podcast. Because after I read a good book I try to get the author on my podcast with the excuse that I want to give him or her more exposure. But the reality is I just want to ask questions like a little kid to someone I admire.

SLEEPING

I used to admire people who say, “I only need 3 hours of sleep a day”. Only later do I find out that most of these people are borderline mentally ill. Think about it the people in your life who say they only need 3 hours of sleep. I’m not going to accuse them of anything since I don’t know them.

But be honest. Maybe they are a little..?

Why is sleeping productive? There’s brain science about rejuvenating neurons, etc. I read that somewhere. There’s all sorts of studies that people who sleep more get sick less, have more willpower, are less at risk for cancer, etc.

But there’s something else. Dan Ariely, a guest on my podcast, says that the brain’s peak performance happens 2-4 hours after you wake up. Meaning: if you wake up at 5am, then from 7am to 9am, your brain is at it’s most productive.

So here’s what I do. I wake up at 5. I’ll read (or take a walk), until 7am, and then I’ll start writing. Writing is the activity I love most. I’m a little kid again when I write. So I want my brain to be at it’s peak. So from 7 – 9am I’ll write.

THEN, I do a trick. Many days (when I can) I’ll take a 1-2 hour nap around 1 or 2 in the afternoon. Then I know that two hours later my brain AGAIN will be peaking. Maybe not as much as before. But enough. So I’ll write again. This is why I do my Twitter Q&As at 3:30 (every Thursday). Because I know my brain is supercharged then.

I know that if I do the activity I love most when my brain and body have the most energy then that will create the most value, create the most opportunities for me, improve my competence and improve my freedom (because of the opportunities generated).

EAT AT HOME

I don’t like to eat out. It takes so long. And then you have to wait for the bill. And I always feel bloated and I hate salads in restaurants. So Claudia and I make simple meals (Claudia has been super inspired by Rich Roll and his wife Julia Platt so lately all the things we eat come from their book Plantpower) and we are done in about 10 minutes, two meals a day. So I probably save an hour or two by not eating out or not eating junk that will bloat me and make me less productive.

THROW STUFF OUT

A few months ago, Claudia and I threw out almost everything we owned. What do we really need? I like reading on the kindle. How many sheets do we need? We never have guests. How many clothes do I need? I was carrying around clothes I hadn’t worn in forever.

Our house was totally empty. It was really nice. I felt like a breath of fresh air was going through my head. Einstein says (as an insult), “if a cluttered desk means a cluttered mind, then what does an empty desk mean?” I’m okay with that, Albert! I don’t mind having an empty mind.

It makes room for new things, new connections between my memories, new things for me to enjoy. Less things to obsess on. Cleaning the outside and cleaning the inside reduce stress. Every day I try to throw things out. It makes me feel good. It also make me feel like I need less. Throwing things out tells my brain, “you don’t need this anymore” so my brain stops wanting things.

NO NEWS

Someone asked me a few weeks ago to comment on “the situation in Greece”. Is Greece still a country? I had to look it up. I guess they are going to default on their debt. So what? This gives TV people something to argue about. I’m happy for them.

People are wired to notice lions much faster than they notice apple trees. That’s why we are alive. Because our ancestors knew to RUN and the people who don’t exist would have had ancestors who never ran.

Since there’s no more lions chasing us down Main Street, the news tries to find other ways to trigger that fight or flight reflex.

I don’t need to fight or flight in order to improve competence, improve relationships with people, or improve my freedom. So no TV. No news. No web surfing. No books about current events. No talking to people about current events. No conferences about what’s going on in the world.

NO MEETINGS

I never went to a meeting where someone gave me a check at the end. I’ve never traveled to a meeting where it resulted in me making money or being happier.

Most meetings can be summarized in a two line email.

I’ll go to a meeting if it’s with my friends. That’s fun and improves my relationships. But I never go to any other meetings.

What if you are an employee and you have to go to a meeting? Try to get out of it. Or go for part of it. Or insist you only go if there are no chairs at the meeting (meetings will be faster then). Or find a job where there’s less meetings. Or show your boss there’s evidence that company’s with fewer meetings make more money.

NO PHONE

I talk on the phone maybe once every other day. Again, the two line email thing works in most cases.

EMAIL

I like Neil Strauss’s approach. He has one hour a day scheduled for emails. His wife has his password so he can’t even log on to email before that hour.

I don’t email for an hour. My emails are mostly to readers with quick questions or to people I am inviting onto my podcast. I don’t email anyone else.

I DO use texts though. Because they are faster. And I can text answers to people’s questions in my spare time while riding a cab or waiting for my kids or whatever. My phone number is 203-512-2161. Sometimes I answer questions via text and sometimes on my podcast, “Ask Altucher”.

Again, if you’re an employee somewhere you might be in the habit of responding quickly to email from, say, a boss. But try to cut it down to end-of-day when your brain is moving a bit slower and you don’t need it as much.

ONLY do the thing you love most during your peak productive hours.

Hmmm, I just realized I gave eight ways to increase productivity. Since I’ve broken the rules (nothing wrong with that) I’ll add a ninth.

EXPERIENCES

We’re the sum of our experiences and not our material things. Experiences stay with us forever and build us into who we become. Material things get lost or thrown out or lose their usefulness.

A good experience for me is: where I meet friends, where I learn something new, where it’s material I can write about. These experiences last with me forever and I carry them around in a little closet in my heart. If an experience doesn’t belong there, then I don’t do it.

What if you have to? Like if your brother or sister is getting married. Well, if it’s in one of the categories above, then ok. But it’s almost never in the categories above so I don’t go.

What if your boss sends you to a conference.

Then I have a trick you can use. Instead of being depressed and saying, “Ugh, I have to go to this conference” I change “I have to” to “I get to”. Like, “I get to meet a lot of new friends.” And then I actively try to meet new friends.

I can’t always do the above things. And then my gut reaction is saying “Ugh, I have to…”. But If I always change “I have to” to “I get to” then I can usually turn the experience into something productive.

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6 thoughts on “Find Your Six Productive Things To Do Every Day”

I agree with everything you say. What is it with salads in restaurants? They always taste so chemically. I love naps, I always feel so energetic after one. Hate meetings. Think they are the biggest waste of time – I can get things done so much faster by myself, when I don’t have people yammering on at me. Sleep is so important and it’s free!! Never talk on a phone unless I absolutely have to. Great article!!!!!

Thanks for dropping by and sharing your thoughts. James Altucher wrote this originally and published on his site. I just reblogged it here because, like you, I agree with a lot of what James has to say. Have a great day!

This is great, Shawn. I’m a big reader and I try to get my sleep, though I do get some criticism for reading “too much” and taking the occasional nap. This is from a certain someone who shall remain nameless 🙂 I eat at home 95% of the time and am a plant-strong consumer as well. As you know from A-Z, I am working on throwing stuff out. Was just doing that this morning, as a matter of fact.

I would love to avoid all news – so much of it is negative – but I do feel it’s an important part of my job as a librarian to remain informed, so I do keep up on it (at least when I’m at work). We have very few meetings at my workplace (think once or twice a year max), so I do make it a point to attend when I can.Susan recently posted…Wednesday Hodgepodge

Hi Susan, Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts! Avoid all news is difficult especially when it’s job related. I wish we only had 2-3 meetings a year. Ours is more like 2-3 a day.Almost all of them could be handled via email.
Good luck with your cleaning. My wife and I have been purging the house of unused items over the last few weeks.